(A Little Punisher Fact) The Punisher's brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in 1974. By the late 1980s, he was part of a wave of psychologically troubled antiheroes and was featured in several monthly publications, including The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher War Zone, and The Punisher Armory. Several movie adaptations have been released, one in 1989, which features Dolph Lundgren as the Punisher, another in 2004, with the character played by Thomas Jane and a third in 2008 with Ray Stevenson as the character.